


Diaries of an Ex-Soldier

by ItIsAMagicalPlace, porcupinegoldstein



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Coulson changed his name, Father and daughter, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 05:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4291701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItIsAMagicalPlace/pseuds/ItIsAMagicalPlace, https://archiveofourown.org/users/porcupinegoldstein/pseuds/porcupinegoldstein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coulson finds out that he has a daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diaries of an Ex-Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Coulson parts are written by ItIsAMagicalPlace and the Jemma parts are written by me

Coulson walks into the hospital room not knowing what to expect. His CO had given him leave due to unknown family issues. This had confused him greatly as his parents died while he was serving in Afghanistan.

His journey to the hospital was uneventful, only stopping once to fix the booster seat Garrett had left in the car. He can't help but wonder why the hospital needed him to come in on his one off day.

When Coulson arrives on the hospital ward, a Doctor immediately pulls him aside "Mr. Coulson?" The woman asks, keeping him from zoning off. "Yes, that's me, how can I help?" He asks watching as the woman hands him a chart. "Room 23." Coulson immediately walks towards the designated room and stops to look through the window.

He can't help but notice the small brown haired girl wrapped in the flimsy hospital blankets. James tries to make himself as friendly as possible so he smiles. “Hi, I’m James, what’s your name?” He asks, not certain why the doctors sent him to this room, armed only the chart and her age.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Jemma couldn’t remember how long she had been in hospital for but, she knew that she hadn’t actually seen a place that she could call home for a long time. When someone else walked into the room and spoke to her, she moved her head and looked up at the man. 

“Jemma. My name’s Jemma. Did someone send you to come and get me or something like that? I don’t actually know how long I’ve been here or anything. But, yeah. My name’s Jemma.”

Coulson smiles before spotting an arm chair and sitting in it."The doctors asked me to come here and see you Jemma." He responds, watching how inquisitive she acted, reminding him of himself when he was younger.

"Do you know how long you've been here Jemma?" He asks, watching the young girl attentively. "But better yet, do you like books Jemma?" He asks, concerned with why a child her age was hooked up to an ECG. 

She nods with a small smile. If the doctors had said for the man to come in and see her, then it must be for some special reason. She wasn’t sure exactly what the reason was but, it didn’t seem to be a bad thing.

 

“I don’t know how long I’ve been here,” she shakes her head. “I do like books though. I really like to read and I haven’t read a book in a long time but, I would really like to read another one.”

 

Coulson reaches into his jacket to pull out a slightly worn blue book. “No what would you do if I said I have a book right here?” He responds, setting it down beside her and mentally resolving to go have a very long conversation with her overseeing doctor.

 

“Jemma? Do you mind reading the while I go have a talk with your doctor?” He asks, moving the arm chair back and standing up, prepared to leave the room. “I’ll be right back okay?”

She looks at the book with a smile and her eyes wide in wonder. Nobody had been that nice to her before and she was more than happy to have a book there to read. 

 

“Thank you Sir. And I don’t mind if you speak to someone. I am happy to read,” she nods enthusiastically. She reaches over and grabs the book, before opening it to read. 

 

“Jemma, when was the last time you left the room?” He asks before leaving, her answer could affect how rational his conversation with the doctor was going to be.

 

“I’ve been here for as long as I can remember,” she tells him with a small frown. When was the last time she actually went home? Did she even have a home to go back to? 

 

After hearing her reply, he leaves and walks towards reception like a man possessed, there was no way that child would be staying in the hospital room any longer.

She watches him go and turns her attention back to the book, keeping her eyes on it and reading it. She keeps all of her concentration on it and tries not to think about the fact that she had been in this hospital for a long time now. 

\------------------------------------------------------------

"Mr. Coulson, please calm down. Your daughter-" He stares at the doctor for a few seconds before lashing out. “She’s my Daughter?! And no-one thinks to inform me of this?” He roars, taking the forms he needed to sign and handing them back.

 

"Mr. Coulson, please." The doctor pleads to no avail. “You will check up on her and then she will be leaving. Understood?” He orders, before turning and walking back to the room, taking a moment to calm himself before walking inside.

 

“Hey Jemma, what would you say if I said you're coming home with me today?” He asks, moving to sit back in the armchair as the doctor walks in to perform the last check up.

Jemma looks up to him and thinks to herself for a couple of seconds. She knew that she probably didn’t have any home to go back to and this was an offer. She didn’t even know if she had any parents. Nobody had come to visit her. 

 

“You mean that you want me to come with you? Like a father? I don’t think that I’ve even had parents. Nobody has ever come to see me, so I don’t think that I have them. I would like to come with you though.”

 

Hearing that Coulson gets out of the armchair and sits on the bed beside her, this little girl, someone he’s barely known about an hour has already managed to weave her way through every barrier and into the heart. 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

“Jem– my beautiful baby girl, I can tell you now you have a parent right here.” He murmurs, pulling his daughter as close as physically possible and letting the few tears stream down his face. “Because that’s exactly what you are, my beautiful baby girl, and my only daughter.”

Jemma returns the hug, her mind working more than it ever had before. If what she was being told was true then this was what she had been waiting for. She actually had a father. She had a parent, someone that would care about her and raise her and that was all she had ever wanted. 

 

“I didn’t even know that I had a dad. I’ve been here for a really long time that I had just thought I didn’t have parents. I thought that I was the only kid in the world that didn’t have parents.”

 

Coulson reaches a hand up to wipe the tears away, keeping her securely in his arms, afraid that if he'd let go she'd disappear “I work and live on a naval base Gem, so there’s going to be a lot of places you can’t go and things you don’t understand ok?” He murmurs hearing her talk about how she felt.

 

“You're going to have a very big family however, it’s very rare that ex-servicemen are allowed to keep their children on base.” He murmurs, listening as the doctor gives the all clear. “You ready to go Gem?”

She nods with a small smile. Just as long as she had a place to live, she knew that she was going to be happy. She knew that there was always going to be something that was a condition to her having a home.

“Okay. I can stay away from places that I’m not supposed to go to. I’m good at following the rules and I like to follow rules so I can do that. How big is the family?”

 

He smiles before watching the doctor detach the ECG and nod her approval of Jemma leaving before lifting her into his arms. “Upsy-Daisy.” He chuckles, retrieving the book and leaving the room. 

 

He carries her outside the hospital and is grateful he still had the booster seat from that time with Garrett and his boy. “I was part of a fifty man unit, so that’s how big.” He chuckles, arriving at the car and strapping her into the booster seat.

She smiles and holds onto him, making sure to listen to what he was saying and nods. Her eyes widen at the number of people that he tells her and she nods again. 

 

“That is a lot of people. Do I get to meet them all too? I don’t know if I can remember all of the names of people though. Do you think that they will like me? I’ve never really had any friends before.”

 

He can’t help but frown hearing that she hadn’t the chance to make friends. “She was in hospital for two years James, two years.” He whispers to himself before getting into the driver’s seat and pulling out of the parking lot and driving out.

 

“I know you're going to be loved kiddo, only one of the soldiers I worked with has a kid, he’s a single dad, he also leaves his son on base too.” He murmurs, using the back roads to travel to the naval base.

\------------------------------------------------------------

She smiles and nods, feeling a surge of excitement at the fact that she might be able to make a new friend. Being a bit nervous was a trait she had picked up while at the hospital but, now she hoped that she could get out of that habit and be able to make a friend easily. 

 

“I would like to make friends with someone. What’s he like? I just want him to like me because I would really like friends. There was one person at the hospital but, it was one of the nurses so I would like a friend that is my age.”

 

He smiles as he pulls into the security checkpoint. “Hey Joe, yeah this is why I was called into the hospital, open the gate?” He murmurs into the intercom as the gate opens up and he drive in.

 

“His name is Leo Fitz, but don’t ask why he and his father have a different name kiddo.” He murmurs, driving to the residential district and parking up. “Wait till you see the view Gem”

Jemma nods and gives a smile. “Aw, I like the name Leo. I’ve never met anyone called Leo before though. It reminds me of a book I read once where the was a King and he was called Leo,” she grins.

 

She feels a little more excitement building up. “Well, anything is better than actually being stuck inside all day in a bed and not being able to go anywhere, except the bathroom.”  
He smiles before turning the engine off and sliding out out the car with ease.

“I’m going to carry you up ok?” He murmurs, opening the door and unclipping the booster seat to carry her up to the apartment.

 

“Leo, might be over today if Garrett is free.” He murmurs, carrying the girl into the apartment complex and up to one of the higher levels,

She smiles and nods, trusting him to make sure that she was safe. She knew that she was safe with him. Why would he take her all this way and just not keep her safe?

 

“Aw, okay. Well, I can’t wait to meet him when he does come over. I really do want to meet him and meet everyone else too,” she grins.

"Welcome home Jemma Elizabeth Simmons-Coulson" He murmurs opening the door to show the wall of windows.


End file.
